The work volunteers put in is invaluable

Debie Pearmain

Debbie and Mary

I work in Police Licensing for the Slough, Windsor and Maidenhead areas. I look after around 1,300 licences with all the work that entails from test purchasing to organising the pubwatch meetings. 

Before the volunteers joined us I used to have take work home to get everything finished. I have volunteers who help me and reduce my stress levels.

One of our volunteers in Windsor, Mary supports the work we do for the 15 pubwatch and hotelwatch schemes in our area. She sends out reminder letters about meetings and ensures that the filing for all the licensed premises is kept up to date. Another volunteer, Mavis, goes to the venues reminding the staff of meetings and she ensures new licensees sign up for our meetings.

If licence holders don’t attend these meetings regularly then the ‘watch’ schemes can’t function properly. They are a means of meeting, exchanging information l of which aims to reduce violence and improve the night-time economy. The extra work Mavis and our other volunteers put in ensures most people attend and saves me hours and reduces my stress levels.

"I help the unit keep in touch with its community" - Mary Skelton

I am from Windsor and come from a nursing background but also have experience of running a probation hostel in the town. I joined a neighbourhood watch scheme and soon found I was volunteering to help deliver leaflets on crime prevention to local communities. I then became a volunteer and do two to three hours a week in the Police Licensing department for the Slough, Windsor and Maidenhead areas.

As a police support volunteer, my work with Thames Valley Police has included working on the 2012 Olympics, working with specials and now with Debie at the Licensing department where I spend three hours a week helping the unit keep in touch with its community, eg sending out reminder letters about meetings, helping keep records up to date and I have learned new computer systems.

I have a computer at home but the systems here are very different, I had good tuition and now feel confident to use the computers.

I volunteer because I have always worked and always worked many more hours than I was paid for whatever job I did. I like this because I usually come on a Monday and it starts my week.